Gunshots in the Dark
by Writers4All
Summary: Alex thought that his stay in jail was over once Ben bailed him out. Unfortunately, he was wrong, and he soon finds himself facing his worst nightmare - Bricks, who likes underage blonde teenage boys. Will he be able to escape this adventure unscathed? SEQUEL to Explosions in the Dark.
1. Gunshots and Tasers

_A/N: NightmareWorld and Writer With Sprite had such a fun time writing Explosions in the Dark that we couldn't resist posting a sequel, Gunshots in the Dark. It *can* be read as a standalone, but it's suggested that you read Explosions in the Dark first._

_Disclaimer: Still do not own him. He's a little escape rat. _

* * *

Bricks glared at the guard. "We've got to pay back the kid. He hurt me!" he whined in a kid voice. "He kicked me, ya'know, where it counts!"

"I know, 'cause I saw him do it."

"We've gotta get him! We've gotta get him! How are we gonna get him? You know you owe me, you gotta help me! You could have some fun, too!"

The guard sighed, rolling one of his shoulders back to get the stiffness worked out of it. "Yeah, yeah, I know, don't yell at me. I never said I wasn't going to help you. But we're going to have to break you out."

Bricks licked his lips and ruffled the guard's hair. "You're my favorite guard. But I was thinking you could kidnap him, and bring him in. Because I don't want any charges added to my arrest. You could just say that he'd been caught lying about his age."

"Hmm... Did you hear anyone mention where he was from?"

"Yes. Actually, I was by Mike when the kid gave his address," Bricks said, grinning like he'd been handed a million dollars. "I want to make him my personal boy, don't you?"

"I just wanna beat him up some. You mind?"

"No, I think it'd be good for the kid... It would subdue him a bit. Make sure he knows his place before you bring him in," Bricks said. He grinned devilishly. "Make sure he knows to listen to me. Put him in my cell. And die his hair. And give him a new name, so that nobody knows him."

"Sure, 'course."

"So, how mad do you think the kid will be? I don't think it'll take much to control him, do you?"

"I don't know; he did kick you pretty hard..."

"I know. So give him something to subdue him. I want him, I want to make him mine. Nobody messes with Bricks and gets away with it!" Bricks said, cracking his knuckles.

* * *

Alex groaned as he looked at Ben. "I don't feel good, Ben. I don't want you to miss out on hanging out with your unit because I couldn't go. Really, I'm fine. I just want to sleep, that's all."

"Sure," Ben replied, a frown coming over his features. "Hey, you haven't looked pretty well... Do you think you're sick?"

Alex glanced away from Ben, checking for K-Unit, before shaking his head. "No, I just - one of the guys in prison, I think I know why he was there."

"Well, of course some of them would've told you." Ben crouched down, looking up at where Alex was sitting on the guest bed in Ben's house. Their mission was tomorrow, and they figured this was just easier. "Hey, Alex... Did something happen?"

"No, but it almost did," Alex said. "O-one of the men liked un-der-age b-boys." He swallowed hard, shuddering as he thought about what could have happened. "Or, at least he used too," Alex added, smirking to Ben.

Ben sighed, standing up to ruffle Alex's hair. "He's in prison for a reason, and I doubt he'll be getting out. Come on, don't let it ruin the night."

"It's not just that though. I just feel like shit, and like I really want to get some sleep. I didn't get any sleep the night before, and it wasn't exactly like I got a nice nap at the jail either." Alex reached up and ruffled Ben's hair. "Does that make it all better?" he taunted.

Ben scowled. "Hey, I can ruffle someone's hair who's younger, but it's just strange when you ruffle mine."

Wolf walked up behind Ben and ruffled his hair. "So, is Zombie going with us?"

Ben groaned, looking up at the ceiling. "Not you too."

"So, is Zombie going with us?" Wolf asked, gesturing towards Alex. He put his hand on the kid's forehead. "You don't look good. Are you sick?"

Ben covered him, seeing that he wasn't keen on talking about it. "Just tired after the eventful last few days..."

"Right," Wolf responded, looking unconvinced. "We probably shouldn't take a minor into the bar anyway."

"Yeah, there's laws for that."

Eagle bounded over. "Hi! Wolf! Guess what! I found us the best bar ever! It has beer and mountain dew! And Pepsi, and Coke! And there are unlimited refills on drinks!"

Ben glanced at Alex. "You sure you don't want to come to keep him away from alcohol?"

Alex arched his eyebrow. "...I don't think I want to see him near alcohol, so thanks but no thanks. Besides, what about those pesky laws? I mean, I know minors can technically go in. The kid just simply isn't up for it tonight. I'd really just like to sleep."

Eagle grinned. "More beer for us!"

"No," Ben firmly replied. "No beer for you."

"But-"

"You are the appointed driver, and therefore are staying sober unless you want Alex to get arrested because he doesn't have his license but is driving us all home. Got it?"

Eagle pouted, but then said, "Cool! So that means I get unlimited caffeine! Let's go!" He said, snatching the keys out of Ben's hand and taking off out the door.

Ben said suddenly, "You know, maybe I should stay home to take care of Alex. In case he's really sick or something."

Alex shook his head. "No, Ben, just go. I have your cell. Besides, shouldn't you stop Eagle from stealing your car?"

"He does that all the time."

"Just go, Ben. I want to sleep, and I can't do that when someone's here. But I want to know you're close and just a phone call away, okay?" Alex asked. He truly just looked exhausted. He leaned over to the trash can and vomited. "On second thought... I really don't feel good..."

Snake glanced over at Ben. "If you want to stay home, it's fine. We understand."

Alex groaned again. "I feel sick... I think... They put something in the food..."

"Your day in jail was just fun all around," Ben commented.

"I'm going to go to avoid being puked on, but if you need me we're only a speed dial away," Snake said. He knew Alex wouldn't want all of K-Unit around - especially a hyperactive Eagle - with him so sick.

K-Unit left. As soon as the door slammed shut, Alex grabbed the pillow and hugged it. "I feel really, really sick," he said. A tear ran down his cheek. "My stomach feels like it's on fire.'

"Well, I'm sure you won't burn anything up," Ben said after an awkward moment of silence. He rubbed his back briefly, not sure what to do. "Just get better, okay?"

"D-did I tell you what Bricks did?" Alex said in a suddenly angry tone. He was just so mad about the whole situation - not at Tom, mostly at Bricks. The guy really belonged in a mental hospital.

"...No."

"So I get there and the guard asks me my age, and then as I say '16,' he says, 'stay away from Bricks'. I just glanced at him and I go, 'who's Bricks? And the guard goes, 'Bricks likes boys.' I just glanced at him. 'Young, underage boys.'" He glanced at Ben, waiting for his feedback.

"MI6 and SAS don't exactly train you for that kind of thing, huh?" Ben quietly said. "They give you training to survive in the field, but once you get home, it's all up to you."

Alex nodded. "The guard was going to protect me from him, but then another guard said Bricks was moving into our cell. Bricks made it abundantly clear what he wanted - me - with out without my consent. I'm pretty sure he would have gotten me too if you hadn't found me." Alex clutched the pillow tighter.

Ben sat down in a chair in the room. "We would've gotten there faster, but... we didn't know where you were."

"It's not your fault," Alex told him. "I just needed to vent, I'm sorry."

"No, you don't have to be sorry. It's okay."

.Alex closed his eyes before whispering, "And the way he looked at me... It was just... It's like it's burned into my soul forever and I don't know why! Why is it bothering me this much?"

"It's not like you've ever had problems with it before," Ben replied. "And you're tired, and probably frustrated."

Alex nodded. "I beat the tar out of him, though."

Ben grinned. "And that's why you're out of jail, and he's stuck in there."

Alex groaned as he lunged for the wastebasket again, vomiting. A minute after he finished, he mumbled, "I'm hungry but don't want to eat."

"Sorry, I don't know what to do about that. I can call Snake and ask him, if you want, since he's our medic."

Alex shook his head. "No, but can you help me over to the couch? I want to lay down..."

"You're already on a bed," Ben pointed out, but walked over to help him up.

"I was on the carpet," Alex said. Not ten minutes later he was asleep.

Around the same time, Ben's phone rang. He was sitting on a chair near the couch, reading a book. He groaned, answering the phone. "Yeah?"

"Eagle got ahold of some alcohol. Do you think you mind picking us up in about 30 minutes or so - long enough for us to eat, but not long enough for Eagle to hit on any girls?"

"It's going to take me thirty minutes to walk there!" Ben yelled at him, but kept his voice down enough that Alex could still sleep. "Why didn't you keep him away?"

"We couldn't warn our waitress fast enough!"

"Then why weren't you watching him?!"

"What am I, his keeper?"

"Hey, I'm watching a sick teenager right now who's probably traumatized for the rest of his life because of the last few years! I'm a responsible person! You can walk!"

"What do you want us to do about your car then? Leave it here? 'Cuz that's no problem, darling dearest." Ben heard rustling on the phone. "Oh. Wolf says he'll give you a fifty pounds if you pick us up in two hours."

"I'm not taking money to ditch a kid!" Usually, he would've already done the nice thing and picked them up, but considering Alex's illness and worry, he didn't want him to wake up and find Ben nowhere in sight.

"Okay, okay. We'll call a cab."

Two hours later

"Hey, Wolf says a cab will cost more than it would to bribe you. Can you just walk over?"

Alex groaned as he stirred. "Ben? Who's on the phone?"

Ben glanced at him. "It's nothing, Alex. Go back to sleep." Into the phone, he said, "Why don't you just walk over?! You're SAS!"

"Because we need a car to shove Eagle in. He's checking out a waitress really seriously. I don't think he has condoms."

"There are three of you, and one of him! I'm sure you can handle him."

Alex opened his eye. "Just go bail 'em out Ben. Please? You won't take long. Besides... you can get video blackmail... on Eagle..."

Ben glanced at Alex. "I don't want to have to leave you alone."

"If I can handle Bricks, I can handle anything. Go. But get blackmail material on Eagle. I have plans for that." Alex grinned evilly - right before he vomited into the trash can. Again.

Ben winced. "Are you sure?"

"I can handle myself fine. I can call you if I can't. Really, please go." Alex reached into his duffel and handed him a video camera. "Think of how much money we can win on candid camera."

"Revenge will be sweet." He simply hung up on his friend, and grabbed his car keys. "Don't get killed, 'kay? Kidnapped is out of the question too."

"Sure," Alex said. "Not a problem. Besides, who's going to break into here?"

* * *

The guard sighed. He had managed to get ahold of the name of the person who had signed the brat out, and had tracked down his house. Clearly, the person must be some guardian or something. So that's why he was certain he'd find the brat here.

The guard was well prepared. He had a stun gun, drugs, a taser, a baton, an actual gun, and much more in his kidnappers' arsenal. He even had a story fabricated for why the kid was back in prison. He couldn't wait.

The guard approached the door and was surprised when it took him a few minutes to pick it. He was normally very good at these things. When it was finally open, he slid it closed. He grinned as he saw the sleeping teenager on the couch. This was simply too easy. He crept over and slammed his hand down onto the kid's shoulder. "Wake up you little bitch!"

Alex wasn't even awake before he turned his head, rolled over slightly, and puked. The guard didn't' move fast enough. While the guard was taken by surprise for a moment, Alex sat up, getting a look at who he'd emptied his guts onto. Immediately, he skidded off the couch, making his unsteady way in the opposite direction while keeping his eyes on the guard.

"Remember me, sweetie?" the guard asked, his tone of voice totally changing. It was almost as if he was bipolar. "You're under arrest, little boy," he said in a deeper voice.

Or alternatively some type of identity disorder. "Get over here!" The guard said, raising his weapon. There was a loud click in the air. "Don't make me come over there and shoot you!"

Alex glanced around the room. Ben was a spy; he probably had a weapon somewhere around here. That didn't mean he, Alex, knew where it was going to be hidden. Carefully, he made his way over to the guard.

A bullet let loose, whooshing it's way into Alex's arm. The guard smirked. Bricks had told him to get the kid no matter what the cost, and he was doing it. Besides, these were specially tailored bullets; more designed to scare than to do anything else.

Alex hissed and jerked back in pain, clutching his arm. He glared at the guard, who reached over and handcuffed him. "You're under arrest for resisting arrest," the man responded.

Alex stomped on his foot, lashing a kick out at his knee, making the guard drop. He bolted a few steps away, snatching his phone off the table. Still handcuffed, he locked himself in the bathroom, dialing one of the first numbers on speed dial. It took a few seconds to ring, but Ben answered.

"Alex? Everything alr-"

"The guard showed up, and he's got a gun," Alex interrupted.

"Can you get away?"

The guard banged on the door.

"No, the bathroom was closest, and there's no other way out of here. Sorry. Looks like this adventure's going to have a part two..."

The guard shot the door lock. "I'm coming after you, sweetie!" With that the door flew open. The guard had been trained as a black belt in karate. He took the phone and yanked it out of Alex's hands, smashing it out of the ground.

Alex took that moment to try to bolt past, lashing a kick into the guard's midsection as he did so.

"...Sweetie!" The guard chose that minute to use his taser, effectively sending Alex to the ground.

Everything went dark.

## break ##

"How are you feeling?" the guard asked Alex as he opened the door of his car.

"I'd be a lot better if I weren't stuck here!"

The guard slapped him, hard, in the face. "Now, here's what we talked about. It was actually you who killed the guard, so we're bringing you back. You'll be Bricks' boy and we're moving you into his cell. Crystal?" he asked.

"I don't see any rocks around here," Alex snapped, kicking at the guard. He got in a solid hit to the knee, bolting away.

The guard sighed, reached for his taser, and tasered him again. Three more cops came out the door. "Got a problem?"

"He's resisting arrest," the guard said as he walked over to Alex. For good measure, he tasered the kid a second time, leaving him gasping for breath. "Get up," he told the kid, grabbing him angrily by his arm. Into Alex's ear, he whispered, "Don't you dare put up a fight."

He didn't seeing as he was seeing black spots and wasn't sure he could move again for the next week.

The guard led Alex towards the door. "You'll be good, or I'll taser you again. We clear? You gonna abide by the rules? You say one wrong thing, and I'll taser you. Got it?"

"I can't move," Alex gasped out.

The guard sighed and shook his head before he dragged the kid towards the door, dropping him on the chair. "The kid 'can't move'," he told one of his pals with a shake of his head. "Can I get the intake paperwork?"

"Sure," the other guard said. He didn't even acknowledge Alex.

Another guard came up to Alex and offered him a cup of water. "Want something to drink? Getting tasered can be hard to deal with."

"That'd be nice," Alex managed.

The guard gave him a glass of water that was full of antidepressants designed to make the newbies a little more cooperative. "Here you go. I'm sure you'll do okay, just don't fight back, we really can't tolerate it here. Okay?"

"Sure, but when's my court hearing?"

"I don't know, we'll have someone look it up for you," the guard shrugged. "What're you in here for?"

"Resisting arrest, but no one told me what I was being arrested for in the first place. Actually, they just broke down the door when I was asleep and arrested me... And then shot my arm and chased me throughout the house... And I just got tasered twice..."

The guard frowned. "I'm sure they told you, and you just didn't hear them."

Another kid bounded over towards them. "What's up! Somebody told me it was my job to show the newbie around! What's your name, newbie?" he asked, glancing at him. He did a double take. "You're not a newbie. You were here earlier."

"I know, which is why I'm confused..."

"Oh, I'm sure there's a reason for it! They always have a reason for it! Remember me?"

"Yeah, Junkie... But I mean, they didn't tell me, and I didn't do anything illegal."

"They always tell you, you must've been asleep." Junkie ruffled his hair before looking at the guard. "Where's his room?"

"With Bricks. You know where his room is, right?"

"Yup, but I thought the guard told the kid to stay away from Bricks earlier."

"Hey, I just do what I'm told."

"Hey, I'm not staying with Bricks," Alex firmly said. "We don't exactly see eye to eye on things like how old you should be to have sex and who it should be with."

"Actually, you are. We reassigned the rooms, and that's where you ended up in the shuffle," the guard who had kidnapped him said, his hand resting firmly on his taser with a warning sign flashing in his eyes, the threat extremely clear.

* * *

Challenge:

So is Alex going to have to room with Bricks?

Should we update tomorrow (Monday) or the day after (Tuesday?)

Thanks for reading!


	2. Calling in a Catfish Favor

_**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed: Guest, PeaceLoveNINJA, FallingStar93, MyLifeIsComplete, Anonomon13, Wolfwind97, and Owltalon.**_

* * *

"Then move them back around! I am _not _staying with that pedophile! Or the person who won't admit to him being a pedophile! Maybe you didn't know how to spell it when you looked it up on his records!" Alex shot back, furious, frustrated and upset.

"He's not a pedophile, and I don't appreciate you calling him that. He hasn't been arrested for any crime involving sex with a minor," the guard lied. He still had his hand on his taser.

Junkie snorted. "Yeah, he was arrested for murder... Funny how that works..."

"I'm not staying with him," Alex firmly said again. "It's not happening."

"Fine," the guard responded as he roughly grabbed Alex. He leaned closer. "Remember my threat, _little boy_?" He said the last words so quietly nobody else heard him.

Alex jerked back. "Look, you shot and tasered me, no one I know has a clue where I am, and someone has yet to tell me what I was arrested for when I was 'resisting arrest'!"

"He's clearly delusional, I clearly told him we were arresting him for destroying evidence at the scene of the crime," the first guard told the second guard.

"I hope we don't have to taser him," the second guard said back. "I really don't like loud people."

"You can't taser him unless he hurts you, that's illegal!" Junkie snapped. "Look, he's made it abundantly clear he doesn't want to room with Bricks, why can't he just room with Lawyer and me?"

"Because that's not how the room assignments work. Now if you don't mind, it's past your bedtime." With that, the guard firmly grabbed Alex, launching onto his arm and twisting it roughly. "Wanna come with me, London?" He glared at Junkie. "I'll be taking care of the legal stuff, Junkie. Go away."

"Hey, he just said there's another way to do this!" Alex yelled at him. "I don't need a bed, just somewhere I can sleep without being worried about the other guys in the room!"

The guard shook his head and just dragged Alex. "Make sure Junkie gets shown back to his room," he said. He lowered his voice. "I thought that we were clear on this?"

"I am not your bitch," Alex snarled.

"You're right, you're not _my _bitch." The guard lowered his voice. "Look, I don't want to do this either, but I owe Bricks. Just don't show him any fear and you'll be fine. He won't attack anyone unless he thinks they're submissive - i.e., they show him fear. Okay?" He raised his voice. "Ready to go back to the room now?"

"I don't want to room with him!"

"Just shut up!" The guard said as he stomped to the floor. He dragged a protesting Alex into the cell, shoving him in the room with Bricks. With that, he slammed the door shut and walked away. "Roll call in eight hours for breakfast."

Bricks cracked his knuckles. "My pretty... has returned..."

"That's... creepy?"

Bricks growled at him, smacking him right then and there. "Fear. Me."

Alex groaned. It was going to be a long night, if nothing else, because of terrible clichés.

* * *

Eagle was leaning back against the hood of Ben's car. "I don't understand why we have to go home now," he pouted.

"...Because it's-" Wolf checked his watch -"Two a.m."

"So what, little Wolfie?"

"So, that means that I'm tired and we'll be on duty in two days. Besides, you had alcohol."

"One shot!"

"Eagle, I hate to break it to you, but you had three shots," Snake told him, rubbing his head. "And a glass of Bud Light."

"When will Ben get here?"

"Whenever I feel like," Ben snapped, smacking Eagle upside the head. "Everyone, in the car, now. Be prepared to get arrested for speeding, because everything would've been _fine _if I hadn't had to pick you up. Instead, I just got a phone call informing me that someone has kidnapped Alex."

"What happened?" Eagle asked as if he were suddenly stone cold sober. "Surely he couldn't have gotten in that much trouble!"

"He just called me saying someone had broken into the house! I don't _know _what happened other than that! Now, let's get going!"

* * *

Eagle sighed as they all returned home. "Look at your door, Ben-Man. It's in a bad place."

"Hell, you mean? Yeah, everything I own will end up there too..." Ben said, not really thinking about his words, as he hurried around the house to look for a hint. "Come on, Alex, where'd you go?" he muttered to himself.

Eagle called out to him. "Ben-man! There's blood on the sofa! Did Alex throw up really hard, or something?"

Ben hurried over.

Wolf slapped Eagle. "There's a bullet right there. Someone fired at Alex and missed." He sobered. "I hope he didn't fire at him and hit..."

"He sounded like he was in pain when he called," Ben said. "I'll bet he fired before, and if he still was able to get himself to the bathroom, he's probably not bleeding in somewhere vital."

"Oh, that's encouraging," Wolf responded as he looked at the area. "At least there's not too much blood... hey, what's this?" he asked. "Eagle, make yourself useful and go and get me some gloves."

"Sure Wolf-man!" Eagle raced off to complete the task and was back seconds later. "I'm glad you keep gloves in your bathroom Fox-man."

Wolf rolled his eyes and picked up the badge. "Holy shit. Look, Ben-what was the name of that prison we went to earlier to bail Alex out at?"

"Rehab Jail for Adults, why?"

"Because this is a badge from there."

"That's not good. You know, I wonder if the guard was the one who was giving Alex problems earlier."

"Hmm.. We should probably go pay him a little visit. Eagle," he said, turning towards his friend, "Go look up the guy's address."

"Yes, sir Wolf-man!"

* * *

Bricks smiled at Alex. "Are you ready to have some fun, London? Notice how my room is the furthest away from everyone else's."

"They wanted you away from everyone else. And 'London'?"

"You look like a London. I always call all of my Blondies London," Bricks said. He moved closer to Alex. "How does being here make you feel?" He put his arm on Alex's shoulder.

"Like I'm going to kill you. Do you suppose they add jail time for that?"

"Do you fear me yet?" Bricks asked, his smile wide.

"Screw you," Alex snapped.

"No, but I'm about to screw you!" With that, Bricks grabbed onto Alex and shoved him to the floor, twisting his arm behind his back roughly. "Do you fear me now, London?" He waited for Alex's response. When he didn't get one, he yelled, "Do you fear me!?"

"No!" he yelled back.

The guard came towards the door. "Keep your voice quiet, boy. I don't want to be able to hear you."

Alex kicked out from under Bricks. "Then get him off me and away from him!"

"I can't do that, I owe him a favor. You, on the other hand, are keeping the rest of the rooms up." He walked away again, leaving Alex alone with Bricks.

"Well, I wouldn't be if you'd get him away," Alex hollered after him.

* * *

Lawyer frowned as he glanced at Junkie. "The kid is back?"

"Yeah," Junkie said, running his hand through his hair, "And they've got him rooming with Bricks."

"That's not good," Lawyer muttered.

"I know. I said he could room with us, but they wouldn't let me. I asked them why he had to be here and they wouldn't tell me."

"Something's fishy," Lawyer responded. He pounded on the door. "Catfish!" Catfish was probably the guard who was the most trustworthy. And he owed Lawyer a favor.

Catfish slunk over. "Whatta want?"

"I want to claim my favor."

"Oh?" Catfish raised his eyebrows.

"I want you to get the kid - blonde hair, blue eyes, _underage_," Lawyer said, stressing the last part, knowing that Catfish didn't want kids to get hurt -ever, "out of Brick's cell."

"They put an underage kid in with Bricks?! Wait, what's an underage kid even doing here in the first place?"

"I don't know, that's what we need to figure out. Just go get him, I'm claiming my favor."

Catfish sighed, but nodded. He walked over to Brick's cell and opened the doors. "You the underage kid?"

Bricks looked at Alex and licked his lips. "So you _are _underage..."

Alex tried to buck him off again, again with no result. "Yes, now get me the hell out of here or get someone else to!"

Catfish sighed. "I'm under orders to move you into another cell." He shoved Bricks off of Alex, and helped the disgruntled teenager up. He looked at Bricks. "I don't know what you had to do with this, but I swear I'm going to make your life a living hell." Once he and Alex were safely out of the cell, he slammed the door shut.

As soon as he was out of earshot of Bricks, he asked, "Are you okay, kid? I mean, he didn't... hurt you or anything, right?"

Alex shook his head irritably. "No, just what you saw. Thanks for that..."

"You're welcome. I'm rooming you with Lawyer and Junkie for tonight, and we'll figure out your story in the morning." He paused. "Wait, you did get your phone call, right?"

"Of course not," Alex grumbled. "That would be _impractical_. A guard came to my house and arrested me, shot me, tasered me twice, and put me in Brick's cell because he owed him a favor. That's illegal, right?"

The guard shook his head. "I'm not getting into this this late at night." He walked Alex back to the room.

"Are you saying no one's going to do anything?" Alex demanded.

The guard sighed. "Not tonight, just get in the cell for now." He knew who owed Bricks a favor and wasn't about to cross his toes for some whiny kid. "Here you go, Lawyer."

Lawyer sighed and glared at the guard. "Why is he in pain? Why is there an ace bandage wrapped around his arm? Did you ever get that treated, Removable?"

"No, I put the wrapping on myself," Alex responded.

The guard just sighed. "We don't usually provide treatment for injuries that the prisoners do to themselves. You know that, Lawyer."

Lawyer spat back, "Yeah, and I know that most of those 'injuries' are caused by _you_! Get him the damn treatment for his arm!"

"You already used up your favor," the guard spat, shoving Alex in and locking the door.

Alex shrugged. "Well... I'm not with Bricks anymore, at least. It's fine, I'll get it treated in the morning."

Lawyer winced. "That's just it, you won't. They don't treat prisoners here unless they're bleeding out. They let you make your phone call, yet? Hey, hey, what happened?" He asked, noticing the distressed look on Alex's face.

"No, of course not... and my friends are probably freaking out, since there's blood in the house now..."

"Wait, why is there blood in the house?" Lawyer asked. "Start at the beginning, please."

"Well, I was sick, and I'm thinking that Brick spiked my food the last time I was here... But I was throwing up, and the friend I was staying with had to leave because everyone else had had something to drink at a bar, so he had to go pick them up. The guard showed up while they were gone, and shot me. I called my friend, but the guard handcuffed me before I could do anything else..." Alex explained. "It's been that kind of day."

"...What were you under arrest for?" Lawyer asked, frowning at Junkie. This didn't seem good for him.

"They said he was 'under arrest for resisting arrest,'" Junkie said, using quotation marks. "How many favors left do you have from Mike? I have like two or three."

"What favors? Who's Mike?" Alex frowned. "The guard who just left?"

"That was CatFish. Remember the dude who helped bail you out earlier? That was Mike. Favors are... Uh... Want to explain, Lawyer?"

"Sure." Lawyer put on his best 'storytime' voice. "Favors are basically when you give information to the guards and shit, don't worry about it. Now, what were you arrested for?"

"I told you, he was arrested for resisting arrest!"

"And I'm just making sure that the kid didn't get in trouble for anything else!"

"I don't know what I was arrested for," Alex said. "He never told me."

Lawyer groaned. "Oh, Removable. You make life so much more interesting." He glanced at Junkie. "What time is it?"

"Hang on," Junkie said, going to a hole in the wall where he pulled out a box, taking out the watch. "Three o'clock a.m., why?"

"Because Mike comes in at eight. Think you can hold out that long, kid?"

"Yeah. I can do that. Will they let me have a phone call then? Ben's going to be pissed..."

"Why is he going to be pissed? This isn't your fault!" Lawyer said. He narrowed his eyes. "Is Ben your... - how is he related to you?"

Alex gaped for a second. "What? _What_? No, no, _no no no no." _He buried his head in his hands, trying to shake away the images. "Oh God, no. Ben's not my boyfriend or anything, and he's not pissed like he's going to hit me or something. He's the one who came to bail me out last time, and brought his scary friends with him for enforcement. He's just a friend. _A friend_."

"No, no, we were just thinking he was your father, not your boyfriend. We were just making sure we didn't need to keep you here to protect you," Lawyer said in a teasing voice. Junkie smacked him. "So, he helped bail you out last time? Think he can help bail you out this time?"

"Maybe he can help bail you out too, Lawyer. You don't deserve to be here either."

Alex looked confused. "Were you innocent?"

Lawyer glanced at Junkie before he exhaled slowly. "Yeah... similar situation to yours, they arrested a bunch of kids. I was a street rat at the time, so I didn't exactly have family to go home too. I tried calling my parents, but they were just so pissed I was in jail they were no help at all - didn't even listen to me when I tried to explain the situation. They won't tell me when I get out or anything. I've been studying every single law book I can get my hands on."

"Mike has been huge with you getting your hands on those books," Junkie said with a serious nod.

"I can see if Ben can help," Alex agreed. "I can't promise he'll be able to make all your problems go away, though..."

"Hey, the offer of help is still good!" Lawyer said. "Besides, here is actually better than out on the streets, sometimes." He wrinkled his nose. "If you can avoid Bricks... What did he do to you anyway? Are you hurt anywhere? Junkie has semi medical skills."

Junkie rolled his eyes. "He means I can wrap ace bandages better than anyone else. Hey! Nigeria!" He said, summoning another guard. He lowered his voice. "We're just using all of our favors, aren't we Lawyer?"

"Kid deserves it," Lawyer said empathetically.

"What do you want?" Nigeria said, looking disgruntled.

"Removable never got his phone call, think you can do something about that? He also needs first aid."

"Phone calls aren't allowed until morning, however I can get some first aid." Nigeria frowned and looked at Alex. "Didn't they say you were rooming with Bricks? And good God how old are you? You don't even look as old as Junkie."

Junkie pouted. "Why does everyone keep comparing him to me?"

"I'm sixteen," Alex answered the guard.

"Yeah, I'll hustle up some first aid. I can't get him in a phone call without risking getting written up though," the guard said to Junkie. "But this won't cost you your favor."

"Thanks mate!" Junkie said cheerfully.

"You watch way too much Australian television," Lawyer told Junkie with a roll of his eyes. The first aid kit returned and Junkie calmly opened it as if he'd done this a thousand times before.

"Okay, what hurts?"

* * *

Ben got off the phone, and turned to the unit standing by his car. They were outside Alex's house to see if he had managed to get away and get home. He wasn't there.

"Jones says to keep looking," Ben said. "They're not sending out an official team yet when it's in jurisdiction of the police."

"Nothing," Wolf muttered. "Okay. Eagle looked up the guard's address. If he worked the day shift, chances are he's at his house... Although I don't think he'd be stupid enough to take Alex there." He looked at Ben. "What problems did Alex have with the guard, exactly?" He crossed his arms.

"It wasn't the guard so much as one of the other prisoners," Ben said slowly. "But maybe the guard's tied into it, because he wasn't too helpful when we were there, if you remember."

Wolf shot a glance at Snake, having one of those ten-second-eye-only conversations. "And what problems did he have with the other prisoner? If you want us to help, we need to know the details. I won't tell Alex you told us."

"I won't either," Eagle spoke up.

"I know you won't, and neither will Snake," Ben agreed. "Um... One of the other prisoners, who they were going to room him with, apparently... well, he had a thing for underage boys."

Wolf groaned. Loudly. "Let me guess. Young, underage, blond boys? Who happen to look exactly like Cub?"

"Considering that's how his last two days have been... I'd say so."

"Fuck." Wolf ran his hands through his hair. "Kid's life ain't easy, is it? Okay, so what's our best bet? Go to the prison, or go to the guard's house?"

"They wouldn't be so stupid as to bring the kid back to the same prison," Snake said. "I think we should look at the guard's house. Like you said, there's a possibility he's there. If not, it should give us some clues."

"We could call the prison," Eagle volunteered.

"If they were as helpful as last time, it won't matter. If the guard _did_bring Alex back there, he probably did bogus paperwork-we need to bring him down. Let's go back to the house." Wolf looked at Fox. "What's your take on this? Your lead on this one, you know the area and the kid. And the situation. Do we go to the prison or go to the guard's house?"

"...Guard's house. I know there are some people in the prison who Alex got along with, so I suspect they'll keep him safe if he's actually there."

A car pulled up in the driveway to the house. Ben's car was parked along the sidewalk, so this car could pull up easily. It came to a stop, and a woman got out. She looked at the group of men, who were looking back at her with weird expressions.

The woman asked, "Who are you?"

Ben fumbled for a few seconds, before saying, "Um... no one, we're just looking for someone who got lost.".

The woman looked at him weirdly for a moment.

"We're just out on a late night date," Eagle added, leaning on Ben's shoulder. "And we _loved_your house. Is it for sale?"

Ben elbowed him. "We just bought the house down the street," he said, giving a warning look to Eagle. The woman decided not to answer, and started walking towards the house. As soon as her back was turned, Ben shoved Eagle off his shoulder. Then he glanced at the woman, frowning. "Hey, is your name Jack?"

Jack looked back at them, frowning. "What about it?"

"Just... heard one of the neighbors mention your name. Wanted to make sure we got it right. Thanks, have a great night." He tugged the other three towards the car, trying to get away from the storm.

Jack entered the house, looking around. "Hey, Alex? Alex? ...Alex, are you here?"

"Move, move, before she comes back and asks us if we know anything about that," Ben muttered. "I do not want Alex's friend to kill me simply because we were not standing out of the way of the storm. Why did she have to come back early?"

"Because she _loves _her house," Eagle said even as he moved towards Ben. "Why did you stop dating me so fast? I'm hurt." With that, both he and Snake slid into the back seat of the car.

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for their reviews! We'll post the third chapter (and final chapter) tomorrow. **Bonus**: Review today and get a brief sneak peak!

Challenges:

Will Alex be able to get out in the morning?

What will Ben do to the prison?

What are Lawyer and Junkie's motives?

Bonus challenge for fun: What does Jack think of Eagle and Ben?


	3. Set the Lawyer Free

And now, the conclusion of _Gunshots in the Dark. _This has been co-authored with _Writer With Sprite_ and _NightmareWorld_. If you enjoy, find our original works our check out some of the other works on our _Writers4all _profile - after you read and review, of course. *Insert smiley face here*

**Disclaimer: **We kidnapped Alex to see if Anthony Horwitz would surrender all rights. He wouldn't, so we gave him back. Does that answer your question about our ownership of him?

* * *

Jail - 6:00 A.M.

Lawyer groaned as he awoke and stretched over, rolling to look at Junkie. Junkie glanced at him and frowned. "What's up?"

"Thinking of the kid."

"What about the kid?'

"About how he doesn't deserve all this shit. I just want to kick Brick's ass."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure he does too. Why does Brick get to prey on innocent kids like that?"

"Because he has power. I think he has savings outside of the jail."

"I want to fucking strangle him."

"Shut up, you'll wake the kid," Lawyer retorted. "I'm right there with you, but we won't be of any help if we get holed up in solitary."

"Yeah."

"What time is it?"

Junkie groaned and checked the forbidden watch. "Six o'clock."

"Okay. I'm going back to sleep."

* * *

TWO HOURS LATER

Lawyer was shaking Alex awake. "Come on, kid. It's time to wake up. I want to see if we can use a favor to get you to Mike."

"Okay..." Alex said, sitting up. "When's the other guard's shift ending?"

The guard who Alex just mentioned came up to the door. "Why the hell are you in this cell? I put you with Bricks! You idiot-"

Lawyer interrupted him. "Because he said he didn't want to _be _with Bricks! Did you ever think there might be a reason for that?!" he snapped.

The guard groaned and rested his hand on the taser, eyeing Alex as he moved his key to unlock the door. Seeing no other guards around, he quickly tasered Alex, causing the teenager to drop to the floor.

"You can't do that!" Lawyer screamed. "That's against the law!"

"Shut up!" The guard said. "You don't know anything!"

"No, _you_ don't know anything! You _tasered the damn kid_!" Lawyer screamed. The guard glared at him before reaching for his baton, using it to effectively knock Lawyer to the floor.

Hearing the thud, the nearby prisoners looked that way. Some of them who were down the hallway in the commons area, playing cards before breakfast, looked up and began moving in that direction, curious about what was going on. The guys started moving down that way in curiosity.

"Yo, Tampon, we need help over here!" Junkie screamed at one of the other inmates known for fighting. That's actually how he'd gotten his name; he'd smacked someone once and they'd gotten a bloody nose. Tampon only joked about the nickname, saying 'it made him look tougher.' Newbies and guards alike were encouraged not to mess with him. "Get off the kid! He didn't do anything to you! MIKE! GUARD! Someone go get the guard!"

The inmates who had been playing cards began running down that way, sprinting to find out what had happened.

The guard grabbed Alex and wrapped his hand around his throat. "Everyone back away! The kid's fine."

"You tasered him!" Lawyer shouted. "He didn't do anything to you! He's not even supposed to be here, he's _sixteen_!" He knew that would be the magical word for some of the prisoners who had children that age, like Stalemate and Tampon.

One of the inmates came to the cell door, seeing what was happening. He moved inside, trying to wrestle the taser out of the guard's grasp. The guard backhanded him, but another inmate came in from behind, pulling the guard back out of the way and letting the taser fall to the ground.

"Yo, Tampon, go get Mike, he should be here by now," another man spoke up, glancing at Tampon who looked like he was about to ax-murder the guard with his brain. He started barking orders. "Football, go call 999. Tell them to get over here because a prisoner's about to go down. Nike and Shoes, go see if there are any other legit guards around here that can help this kid."

The crowd dispersed. "Hey, are you okay?" the man asked as he used the guard's own cuffs to cuff him.

"I don't know, Stalemate. He doesn't look that hot," Junkie said, concerned. As if any of them could do anything with their limited medical supplies and medical skills. He sighed, remembering his kid brother Alex's age. He felt bad the kid was in this mess, especially when it clearly wasn't his fault.

Alex pulled himself up off the floor, leaning heavily against the wall. "I don't feel too good either..." he muttered. He glanced at the guard. "Aren't... Aren't you guys going to get in trouble for that?"

One of the other inmates remaining shook his head. "Yeah... but some of us have kids. It's worth it."

With that, Alex vomited again into the wastebasket. Some of it missed and hit on the guard's clothes. He didn't look particularly worried about that. "I guess that taser isn't good for my health, huh?"

Stalemate spoke up. "What did they arrest you for?" he asked.

"For resisting arrest, because... I was... I don't know, sleeping?"

Lawyer spoke up. "We think the guard kidnapped him. We'd ask him for information, but, ya'know, the guard's kinda unconscious..."

Tampon came running back. "I got Mike."

Mike groaned as he looked at Alex. "You? I thought we got rid of you yesterday!"

"That would be too easy..." Alex sighed. "I think I need to call my friend soon, before anything else happens."

"And before you throw up anymore on the guard's uniform," Stalemate added. He grinned. "In as much as I think that would be fun..."

"Speaking of which, why is the guard in handcuffs?"

"It's a long story," Stalemate said, "but we can explain it after the kid gets his phone call. We'll babysit him, you don't have to worry."

Mike sighed. "Just don't kill him. I can't get you out of trouble for that." With that, he walked with Alex towards the phone.

* * *

Ben glanced down as his phone rang. They were standing outside the guard's house, with several police cars as well. They'd called them to they could get access to the house, and the warrant was too easily obtained once they handed over proof of the badge. "Hello?" His expression quickly became excited, and then exasperated. "Alright, we're coming to pick you up. Just hang on. You okay?"

He started walking to the car, and gestured for the unit to come with him.

* * *

"You look like crap," Lawyer informed Alex as the kid leaned against the bed.

"It's not like he got any sleep for two nights in a row," Junkie reminded Lawyer. "Oh wait I'm wrong, he got... an hour."

"I think Ben's on his way, at least... And it was three nights."

"Three nights? No, you were only here two nights," Lawyer said, concerned. "Oh, you mean you didn't get any sleep the night before that. That sucks."

Mike walked over, looking extremely happy. "I have good news for you all," he spoke up. "Bricks is being transferred to another maximum security prison. The guard who _happened _to arrest Alex again - or dare I should say, kidnapped him - is under arrest. I think he pled guilty. Something about overwhelming evidence. And I've arrested CatFish for ignoring your request to get a phone call, as well as several other guards who were dirty." He smirked. "By the way, the real name's Thomas."

Alex looked at him. "You were undercover." It wasn't a question.

"Nice guess." The guard smiled. "Yes, I was." He glanced at the kid. "This 'Ben' isn't going to be angry when he picks you up a second time, is he? Because I don't want him to hurt you, and he seemed mighty upset the first time."

Lawyer rolled his eyes. "Mike-slash-Thomas, did anyone ever tell you that you've studied too much law?"

Alex shook his head, laughing slightly. "Ben's not going to hurt me, I promise. He was pissed off at the people who arrested me, and one of his friends for not shutting up and bothering him the whole way."

"The trigger happy one?" the guard guessed. He glanced at Lawyer. "You never told me what you were in for, anyway."

Lawyer shrugged. "I honestly haven't the foggiest myself," he responded.

Junkie grinned. "It wasn't for drugs, that was my arrest reason. Bet you didn't guess that, huh, kid?" he asked. Then his grin faded. "I have a younger brother about your age. I'd hate for him to be here. I'm glad that you've got someone who's getting you out."

Alex shrugged. "Yeah... I do too."

Junkie reached over and ruffled Alex's hair with a teasing grin. "Couldn't resist. I annoyed my brother with that all the time."

"You'll have to keep in touch," Lawyer told Alex. "Oh, shit. I'm moving," he said as Alex started to reach for the waste basket again. "Did they drug you a second time or something?" His eyes met Junkies'. "Did you drink any water here, actually?" he asked. "Did one of the guards offer you water? Did he have red hair?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh, you're going to have a long, long day... Sorry, kid," Junkie said as he watched Alex vomit. "We think he drugs the newbies to make them more cooperative, but we've never been able to get any proof."

Alex groaned as he clutched his stomach. "Further proof I'm never drinking city water again."

"Thanks for mentioning that, Lawyer," Thomas said. "We'll add that to his charges."

"Don't you have to have proof for that?" Lawyer asked.

Thomas's grin only grew bigger. "Nope, Redhead is singing like a canary; he doesn't want to go down for as long as the rest of them."

Suddenly, a shout could be heard from the other room. "No, I want to know where Alex Rider is, and I want to know _NOW! _I will _NOT _hold, dammit! Don't give me that hand wave!"

"Cue SAS arrival," Alex muttered.

"Sir, if you wait a second. We've had a lot of trouble this morning. What was he arrested for? We need to know so that we can bail him out. Was he even up for bail?"

"He wasn't arrested, he was snatched out of my house!"

"Sir, I would appreciate it if you didn't make up lies about my workers. I just got in this morning, and I can assure you that none of my guards would do that-"

"Then how much about them do you really know, huh? 'Cause I'll tell you, they clearly don't know what they're doing!"

"I better go talk to him," Thomas said as he pulled himself up. He walked out to greet Ben. "Are you Ben, Alex's guardian? He's had a bit of a long night. He's more than ready to go home. I am so sorry, I only just found out about the incident. If you'll come back this way with me and we can chat?"

Ben seemed to mutter something under his breath, but went with the guard.

"Dude, that's your boyfriend?" Lawyer teased Alex, gesturing towards Ben, as the unit entered the room. He recognized Ben from the previous night. "He looks nice. I would date him."

Ben gave him a weird look. Then he directed his attention at Alex, worried. "You okay?"

"No..." Alex shook his head, and then steadied himself on the wall. "It's been one of those days. Hey, but their days haven't exactly been filled with fun either." He gestured at Lawyer and Junkie. "Can you two... explain... I think I'm going to be sick again..."

Lawyer nodded and spoke up. "Yes. Junkie was ordered, late last night, to escort a prisoner to his room. That in itself was unusual. What was even more unusual was that the said prisoner was rooming with Bricks. Removable, of course, was the prisoner-'

"Who the hell's Removable?"

"Sorry," Lawyer said, looking sheepish. "Alex. It was our nickname for him, because we knew he wasn't supposed to be here. We all have nicknames-I'm Lawyer, this is Junkie-" (Junkie waved), "and... yeah. Anyway, Alex was shouting because he didn't want to room with Bricks. Something about how they didn't exactly agree on the whole sex thing, you know? Not that I blame him. So Junkie says that Alex can room with us so he doesn't have to room with Bricks and so we could figure out why the hell the kid was back." He paused and took a breath.

"They denied that request, and pretty much dragged Junkie back to his jail cell and dragged Alex to room with Bricks. I don't know what happened in that room..." he glanced over at Alex. "Your turn here," he said with a shrug.

"Brick just roughed me up a bit, 's all..." Alex said. "Had my arms behind my back, but someone named Catfish came in at that time and got me back to their cell instead. I guess... Bricks couldn't do anything unless I was scared?" he said, remembering what the first guard told him.

"Seems legit," Lawyer said with a shrug. "And then he crashed, hard. And then we called Mike. Or, Thomas, I guessed." He glanced up. "So does this mean you can help me get out of here? Or at least help me figure out what the hell I was arrested for?"

Alex glanced up at Ben. "Yeah, can you help Lawyer out with that? I guess he was arrested, but like me, they never told him what he was arrested for and he never got a court date or anything."

"I'll be out in two months," Junkie told them happily.

"I'll talk to Jones," Ben told Alex. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's banging her head against her desk for this whole ordeal, and just wants to wrap everything up and put it behind her."

His phone rang at that note and he groaned as he picked it up.

"Did you find him yet?" a very annoyed Mrs. Jones asked. If Ben hadn't known her for so long, he might have thought that she even had a worried tone in her voice.

"Yes, ma'am. They brought him back to jail. Several guards have been arrested for things, and an inmate was moved to a higher security prison."

"Good. Did he get any help while he was there?" It was clear from her tone of voice that she expected the answer to be 'no'.

"Two other inmates and a guard helped him out here." Ben glanced at Snake, and gestured, "Watch him, don't let him _move_," before stepping out to the door.

"Excuse me, did I hear you right? Two other _inmates_helped him? What have they been charged with, and how did they help him?"

"One of them was never told what he was here for, and it seems like the other was arrested for doing drugs. The reason he was abducted was because an guard owed an inmate a favor, and the guard came and got him. The inmate apparently... had a thing for Alex." He grimaced at the end. "The other inmates knew he liked kids who were... like Alex, so as soon as they knew he was here, they pulled some favors with a guard who was undercover to get him out and move him to their cell."

Mrs. Jones responded to that, and there was a short conversation that followed before she told Ben to get the kids' names who had helped Alex directly, and that she'd be dropping all of the charges against them, as well as helping them with anything they needed.

After Ben explained about the attack, she said she'd see what she could do for the other prisoners. They hung up and Ben stepped back into the room.

"Call went that good, huh?" Alex smirked at Ben.

"Your boss has your phone number? That's cool," Eagle said. "I don't think Sarge knows how to work a phone."

Alex rolled his eyes. "How much sugar did he drink?"

"You don't want to know," Snake told Alex, not about to tell the kid they'd been drinking even though he could probably guess.

"What'd Jones have to say, anyway?" Alex asked, raising his eyebrow at Ben. "Good news or bad news?"

"Good. And she could probably just look up my phone number," he pointed out. To Junkie and Lawyer, he said, "She's getting your sentences dropped, and if you need any help, she'll give it."

Lawyer's mouth dropped open. "Sweet!" He grinned at Junkie, then his smile faded. "Although we don't exactly have a place to crash..."

"Well, she did say she'd help. We'll get something," Junkie told Lawyer confidently. "By the way, Alex, my real name is Joshua."

"I'm Brayden," Lawyer said. "Nice to meet you." Turning to Ben, he guestured towards Alex and asked, "Does he always get in trouble like this?"

"Yeah," Ben sighed. "You don't even want to know how I met him..."

"And it would take way, way, too long to explain," Alex said as he gestured for the waste can yet again. After he finished throwing up, he muttered, "I am never drinking city water again." Turning to Ben, he said, "Can we go home now? I just want to sleep..."

"Yeah... Do you want to go back to my place or yours? Jack's home."

Alex winced. "Yours. If she sees me looking like this, she'd kill me. I can at least get myself patched up and say I was sleeping at your house the whole time for a cover story. No way she knows about this." He glanced up at Ben. "I'm so ready to go home."

"Don't take offense, but just looking at your haggard expression, I want to go home too." He glanced at the other three. "Hey, thanks a lot. Good luck, okay?"

"Hey, it'll get better just being out of here!" Lawyer said enthusiastically. He gave Alex a look. "No offense, but stay out of trouble. And out of jail. With your luck they'd put you with Bricks again, without us there to help you again."

"Yeah," Alex replied with a small laugh. "I'll try."

"Key phrase, try," Ben said. "Okay, we're going home now. Any protests?"

Unsurprisingly, there were none, and with that, the trio headed home.

* * *

Thanks to all who reviewed! Your comments mean so much. For those of you following A Complicated Game of Cat and Mouse, it will be updated tomorrow, 8/8/2012-Wednesday. I'd like to thank Alyss Mainwaring, mysteryangelcutlass14 for favoriting, MissDarkAngel280397, Aliinna, CoolerThanThouArt, HannahBerry96, and kcllxoxo for following; and Wolfwind97, MyLifeIsComplete, Mythomagic-Champion, Bookdancer, Zoeblum, Anonomon13, PeaceLoveNINJA, FallingStar93, and Owltalon for reviewing! Your kind words mean so much!


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